Locking device for nuts.



No. 783,414. PATENTED FEB.'28, 1905. F. W. BRITTAN & L. H. (moss.

LOOKING DEVICE FOR NUTS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1904( 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

max-um. z

Jf/am ay No. 783,414. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

PQW. BRITTAN & L. H. GROSS.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR NUTS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1904 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 fi.\\\WIIIIIIII C 7 No. 788,414. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

F. W. BRITTAN & L. H. G ROSS.' LOOKING DEVICE FOR NUTS.

APPLIUATION FILED FEB. 23. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES Patented February 28, 1905.

PATENT ()EEicE.

FREDERICK WV. BRITTAN AND LOUIS H. CROSS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR NUTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,414, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed February 23, 1904. Serial No. 194,845.

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FREDERICK WILLIAM BRITTAN and LOUIS l-IEPBURN CRoss, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at No. 19 Newgate street. in the city and county of London,England,have invented a new and useful Improved Locking Device for Nuts, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is a locking device for nuts which involves the use of no special form of nut or work-piece, which can therefore be made separately from the nuts, bolts, &c., and can be subsequently applied wherever desired to any nut which is in use, while the said device admits of the application of an efficient safety cap or seal for protecting the operative parts and preventing them from being tampered with by unauthorized persons. The principle whereby a pin makes its own lodgment or hole is employed, the pins being made fine and sharp enough to enter the metal under the pressure produced in tightening the nuts, while the friction between the two locking plates or washers employed (one of which rotates with the nut and the other is stationary on the work-piece) is reduced to a minimum, so that there is practically no tearing force or torque exerted on the pins, but these are driven vertically into the metal of the nut and work-piece, respectively, at the first point at which they touch said nut and work-piece. A looking-pawl operates between the two plates or washers, and in case greater security is required or the device is placed in an exposed position a cap is provided to cover the locking-pawl. The said cap is made of thin material, such that the sharp pins can easily pierce it during the tightening up of the nut, while said cap can when required be readily torn away in order to give access to the locking device to enable this latter to be released.

In the accompanying drawings some forms of locking devices are illustrated by way of example.

Figures 1 to 5 illustrate one form of construction. Figs. 6 to 8 illustrate a modified construction. Figs. 9, 10, and 11 illustrate two forms of indented locking-washers. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate a modified construction as The figures will be hereinafter referred to in greater detail.

Referring first to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, Figs. 1 and 2 show in plan and edge view a locking-washer (0, having notches b on its edges and three sharp pins 0, formed of hardened metal, projecting below the washer. The pins may either be fixed as rivets in the washers, or they may be raised up out of the metal of the washers and sharpened and hardened if. necessary. Figs. 8 and a show the second washer in plan and edge view, said washer being formed of two parts d and c, the one suitably fixed on the other, (in the example shown by the pins 0 being fixed through both washers,) the part d having the sharp pins 0 projecting upward therefrom through the part 0 and this latter in turn having a spring-tongue f bent down to project below the part (Z through the cut-away part t. Fig. 5 shows this locking device in position holding a nut g, which is screwed to a bolt 7L and holds against the work-piece 70. In applying the device the washers a and (Z c are first dropped over the bolt 7i, and the nut g is then screwed down; Immediately the nut touches the pins 0 of the upper washer this latter is rotated by the nut, the pawl ffreely admitting of this rotation, and the pins 0 are gradually bedded into the nut and work-piece, respectively, during the rotation of the former until the nut and washers lie flush and the pins are completely embedded, asin Fig.5. The tongue f then prevents rotation of the two washers relative to one another, and hence the nut is locked. In Fig. 5 is also shown in dotted lines the cap 8, which may be applied to shield the locking device. The mode of applying and using the cap will be more fully described later with reference to Figs. 12 and 13.

Obviously it will make no difference to the device shown in Fig. 5 if the washers a and (Z c be inverted and slipped on in reverse order. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 show a slight modification. Figs. 6 and 7 are a plan and side view, respectively, of a double spring-pawl 71, having two tongues f, and Fig. 8 shows the modified arrangement in use. In this case two plates (0,

engines or machinery Fig. 1, are employed, one with itspins projecting downward and the other with its pins projecting upward, while the separate double spring-pawl forms a lock between the plates, this pawl being slipped over the bolt between the two plates when these latter are placed in position. The action is otherwise the same as that described above.

Figs. 9, 10, and 11 show two modified forms of washerin plan in Fig. 9 and in partly-sectional elevation in Figs. 10 and 11, respectively. The washer a in this case is not notched at the edges, but is provided with a ring of indented ratchet-teeth m, with which the tongues of pawl 2' engage, as in the device shown in Fig. 8. The washer shown in Fig. 10 is a drop-forging formed from solid metal, while the washer shown in Fig. 11 is a stamping formed in sheet metal, the teeth of the ratchet being corrugations in said metal.

Figs. 12 and 13 show in plan and partly-sectional elevation, respectively, a further modified device as applied to fish-plates. As is well known, fish-plates now in use are usually provided with a slot at the side for holding a nib under the bolt-head. Where this is the case, one of the washers need not have a pin or pins 0, but may have a projection adapted to engage in the slot. 12/ is the fish-plate, and 0 is the nib or projection on the lower washer p engaging in this slot (1 at the side of the bolt /L. In this case the notched plate a is shown in engagement with the nut, and the plate 1) has an upwardly-projecting springtongue f engaging with the notches Z). In this figure the shielding cap or seal is also shown as applied to the locking device. It consists of a cap 8, of thin material, made,

for instance, by stamping or spinning metal to the shape shown in Fig. 13, and which cap is dropped over the washers before the nut is applied, so that when the nut is tightened the pins 0 make holes in said cap and project therethrough into the nut. It will be readily seen that the cap a shields the pawl and all the important parts from the effects of the atmosphere or of external conditions and from being tampered with by unauthorized persons. Should it be required at any time, however, to release the nut, the cap 8 may be torn away at the edge and the tongue f depressed, thus allowing the washer-plates to move mutually and enabling the nut to be unscrewed. A new cap 8, costing extremely little, can then be applied, when thenut is again put on and tightened up.

The caps s will be useful wherever the locking devices are employed in exposed placesas, for instance, on the bolts and nuts of railjoints or wherever a safety-seal is required; but where the locking devices will not be exposed to harmful influences and where no seal is requiredas, for instance, in some parts of the caps may be dispensed with.

The number of pins 0 on each washer is immaterial. Three is a convenient number; but one or two or more than three might obviously be used.

What we claim is 1. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer having a plain bearing-surface on its upper face, means of engagement between said washer and the work-piece, an upper washer having aplain bearing-surface on its lower face, sharp pins projecting upwardly from said washer, .said pins being such as to be capable of making their own lodgment in the nut when tightened under approximately vertical pressure, and locking means between said upper and lower washers such that a minimum of resistance will be opposed to the turning of the upper washer upon the lower washer during the tightening of the nut whereby the sharp pins will be allowed to enter into and engage with the nut.

2. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer, means of engagement between said washer and the work-piece, an upper washer, sharp pins projecting upwardly from said washer, locking means between said upper and lower washers such that a minimum of resistance will be opposed to the turning of the upper washer upon-the lower washer during the tightening of the nut, and a cap of thin material adapted to be slipped over the bolt before the nut is applied, and to be pierced by the sharp pins on the upper washerin the tightening of the nut.

3. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer, means of engagement between said washer and the work-piece, an upper washer, sharp pins projecting upwardly from thickness being such that it can be easily torn away when required to give access to the working parts, whereby the releasing of the locking device may be eflected when required.

.4. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer having a plain bearing-surface the metal of the nut and work-piece when tightened under approximately vertical pressure, and locking means between said upper and lower washers such that a medium of resistance will be opposed to the turning of the upper washer upon the lower washer during the tightening of the nut.

5. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer having a plain bearing-surface on its upper face, means of engagement between said washer and the work-piece, an upper washer having a plain bearing-surface on its lower face, sharp pins projectingupwardly from said washer, said pins being such as to be capable of making their own lodgment in the nut when tightened under approximately verticalpressure, a plurality of notches in one washer, and a spring-tongue adapted. to project from the other washer and to engage in the notches aforesaid when the nut is tightened.

6. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer, means of engagement between said washer and the work-piece, an upper washer, sharp pins projecting upwardly from said washer, a plurality of notches in one washer, a spring-tongue adapted to project from the other washer and to engage in the notches aforesaid when the nut is tightened, and a cap of thin material adapted to be slipped over the bolt before the nut is applied, and to he pierced by the pins in the upper washerin the tightening of the nut.

7. In a locking device for nuts the combination with the work-piece, bolt and nut, of a lower washer having a plain bearing-surface on its upper face, an upper washer having a plain bearing-surface on its lower face, sharp pins projecting respectively downwardly from the lower washer and upwardly from the upper washer, said pins being such as to be capable of making their own lodgment in the metal of the nut and work-piece when tightened under approximately vertical pressure, a plurality of notches in one washer, and a spring-tongue adapted to project from the other washer and to engage in the notches aforesaid when the nut is tightened.

8. The combination of the washer a, notches in the circumferential part of said washer,

sharp pins 0 projecting from one face of said washer, said pins being such as to be capable of making a lodgment in metal when pressed upon the same under approximately vertical pressure, the plates 03 and e forming another washer, sharp pins 0 projecting at one face of 

